Weather
Monday: Between 2º and 5º with light snow or sleet. Around zero at night. Similar Tuesday
|
||||
| Home | | | Opinion | | | Features | | | International | | | In Dutch | | | Dictionary | | | What's On | | | Jobs | | | Housing | | | Expats | | | Blogs | | | Books |
|
Weather
Monday: Between 2º and 5º with light snow or sleet. Around zero at night. Similar Tuesday
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dutch want loan paid before Iceland joins EUTuesday 28 July 2009 The Netherlands wants Iceland to repay the €1.3bn it owes The Hague in connection with the collapse of the Icesave bank before it joins the European Union, report various Dutch newspapers on Tuesday. Nevertheless, Holland, together with all the other 26 European Union countries, welcomes Iceland’s application to join the EU. The Dutch stance was made public by Tom de Bruijn, the Netherlands permanent representative at the EU, following a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels on Monday, according to media reports. De Bruijn was standing in for foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen. Last week, it emerged that a majority of Icelandic MPs oppose paying back the loan made by the Netherlands so that Iceland can compensate Dutch savers for their losses in the internet bank Icesave. Meanwhile ANP news service reports that almost 9,000 Dutch savers who had their assets frozen when Icesave collapsed last year have not applied for compensation. Most of these lost relatively small amounts. They are eligible for a combined compensation of €233,000. In total Dutch account holders with the Icelandic bank lost €1.6bn. © DutchNews.nl
Iceland has damaged its credit and cannot expect future loans from the Netherlands and other potential lenders. If Iceland does not repay a loan that was made in good faith, it is not sufficiently responsible to be recognized as a member of the EU. By Richard | July 29, 2009 8:47 AM There is a widespread misunderstanding that Icelanders do not want to pay back the loan. We wish to pay back the money (money that the people never had access to - only a handful of "businessmen" did), but the extras in the Icesave agreement is something we are not willing to pay, including the 5.5% interest and the UK's "legal fees"! By Nexa | July 29, 2009 11:07 AM
Comments have been closed for this article. |
| Newsletter | | | RSS | | | Advertising | | | Business services | | | Mobile | | | Friends | | | Contact | | | About us | | | Tell a Friend |
|
I think the Dutch stance is not very realistic. How can they expect a population of 300,000 to pay off a 1.6 bn debt?
By Hans | July 28, 2009 6:56 PM